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Bryan Ezra Tsumoru Clay (, Ishii Tsumoru, born January 3, 1980) is an American decathlete who was the 2008 Summer Olympic champion for the decathlon and was also World champion in 2005.
On March 23, 2013, Clay was inducted into the Azusa Pacific Hall of Fame in track and field.
Clay is married to Sarah Smith. They have a son, Jacob (born 2005) and two daughters, Katherine (Kate) (born 2007) and Elizabeth (Ellie) (born 2010).
Clay is a devoted Christian. He believes that a balance of mental, physical and emotional health will help him in athletic competition.
Clay won the silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, and finished first at the 2005 World Championships. He was unable to complete the 2007 World Championships due to injuries, dropping out after four events in which he claimed the competition's best scores in the 100 metres and the long jump.
Clay won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in the decathlon. His victory margin of 240 points in the 2008 Beijing Olympics was the largest since 1972. The Olympic decathlon champion is referred to as the "World's Greatest Athlete" and prior to the Olympics, Clay was tested by SPARQ Training to establish his SPARQ Rating across a number of different sports. The test is meant to measure sport-specific athleticism and in the football test Clay recorded a score of 130.40, the highest ever recorded up to that point. By comparison, Reggie Bush scored a 93.38 on the popular test.
He is one of two Olympians featured on a special edition post-Beijing Olympics Wheaties cereal box; the other was gymnastics Nastia Liukin.
His attempts to regain his World Championships decathlon title were thwarted by a hamstring injury in June 2009. This caused him to drop out of the US trials; thus, he missed the chance to compete at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Injury ends Clay's decathlon bid. BBC Sport (2009-06-25). Retrieved on 2009-06-26. He returned to action in 2010 and won the men's heptathlon at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships. At the start of his outdoor season he won the 2010 Hypo-Meeting, holding off the challenge from Romain Barras.Sampaolo, Diego (2010-05-30). Clay and Ennis beat the rain to take Götzis titles – IAAF Combined Events Challenge. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-06-01.
In 2012, Clay had returned to the Olympic Trials in hopes of making a third Olympics and defending his title. Defending the title was a feat only achieved twice, by Bob Mathias and by Daley Thompson. That attempt was quashed at the beginning of the second day, when he tripped over the 9th hurdle in the 110 metres hurdles, then off balance pushed over the tenth hurdle. He was initially disqualified for pushing over the hurdle, but that decision was reversed, allowing him a mark for running 16.81 s, last in the field and over 1.5 s slower than the next best competitor. Thinking he had been disqualified in the hurdles, Clay followed the hurdle accident with three straight fouls in the discus throws, but he still completed the competition.
Indoor
Athletic career
He competed in track and field in high school, during which time he was coached by Dacre Bowen and Martin Hee. He then attended Azusa Pacific University, an Evangelical Christian college near Los Angeles, California, where he competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and was coached by Mike Barnett, who still coaches him. Clay still trains at Azusa Pacific University. Clay decided to compete in the decathlon after persuasion from Olympian Chris Huffins.
Achievements
Personal bests
Outdoor
+Individual events
! Event
! Performance
! Location
! Date 100 metres 10.39 Azusa April 10, 2004 10.38 São Paulo May 22, 2008 200 metres 21.34 Azusa April 9, 2005 400 metres 47.28 Tampa May 16, 1998 110 metres hurdles 13.64 Los Angeles May 8, 2010 Long jump Carson June 1, 2003 Chula Vista June 6, 2004 High jump Kingston May 7, 2005 Pole vault Azusa April 8, 2006 Shot put La Jolla June 17, 2004 Discus throw Carson May 18, 2008 Javelin throw Claremont April 7, 2007 +Combined events
! Event
! Performance
! Location
! Date
! Score Decathlon Hayward Field June 29–30, 2008 8,832 points 100 meters 10.27 Götzis May 29, 2010 1,011 points Long jump Athens August 23, 2004 1,076 points Shot put Beijing August 21, 2008 868 points High jump Götzis May 26, 2007 887 points 400 meters 47.85 Palo Alto June 21, 2003 916 points 110 meters hurdles 13.74 Götzis May 28, 2006 1,008 points Discus throw Carson June 24, 2005 993 points Pole vault Sacramento July 17, 2004 941 points Javelin throw Helsinki August 10, 2005 920 points 1500 meters 4:38.93 Hayward Field June 22, 2001 687 points Virtual Best Performance 9,300 points +Individual events
! Event
! Performance
! Location
! Date
! 200 meters 21.34 Azusa February 17, 2001 Shot put New York City January 28, 2011 +Combined events
! Event
! Performance
! Location
! Date
! Score Heptathlon Valencia March 8–9, 2008 6,371 points 60 meters 6.65 Budapest March 6, 2004 1,010 points Long jump Moscow March 11, 2006 995 points Shot put Valencia March 8, 2008 864 points High jump Moscow March 11, 2006 896 points 60 meters hurdles 7.77 Albuquerque February 27, 2010 1,040 points Pole vault Ames February 15, 2008 957 points 1000 meters 2:49.41 Budapest March 7, 2004 772 points Virtual Best Performance 6,534 points
Politics
Clay spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2008.
See also
External links
Categories: Www.bryanclay.com Official Website, 1980 Births, Living People, American Male Decathletes, African-american Christians, African-american Track And Field Athletes, Hawaii Republicans, Olympic Gold Medalists For The United States In Track And Field, Athletes At The 2004 Summer Olympics, Athletes At The 2008 Summer Olympics, Azusa Pacific University Alumni, Track And Field Athletes From Austin, Texas, Sportspeople From Honolulu, American People Of Japanese Descent, Sportspeople Of Japanese Descent, World Athletics Championships Medalists, Medalists At The 2008 Summer Olympics, Medalists At The 2004 Summer Olympics, Track And Field Athletes From Hawaii, World Athletics Indoor Championships Winners, World Athletics Championships Winners, 21st-century American Sportsmen, 21st-century African-american Sportsmen
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